Digging deep: An Ochberg Fellow reflects

2011 Dart Center Ochberg Fellow Kathie Klarreich, who works in Haiti as the Knight International Journalism Fellow, reflects on her fellowship experience. Click here for information on the Dart Center’s fellowship program.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Dart Center’s Ochberg Fellowship in Baltimore with eight other experienced journalists. I did anticipate, though, that the collective experience of covering trauma and disaster was going to be heavy fodder, especially coming as I was from 20-plus months of continuous, on-the-ground work in Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake.

My gut instinct was right. The six-day experience encompassed a full gamut of emotions, from tears and grief to outright guffaws. During our presentations for each other, we dug deep to define the sounds, sights, smells and stories that we experienced, and are experiencing, as reporters and photojournalists. For most of us, the process of relaying this wasn’t easy. Reliving trauma and disaster is something we prefer not to do.

Yet from these presentations we gained a collective force, and organically a bond formed between us. Regardless of our work — which ranged from war coverage to small-town events, from the battlefields of Iraq to the streets of Delaware – we experienced similar fears and challenges. We have had to push past these roadblocks to do the work that we love.

The week consisted of more than sharing the unique approaches we’ve adopted in the field. Besides the small sessions with my fellow Fellows and our sensitive Aussie leader, lectures and seminars with trauma experts and psychologists gave us science and medical terminology. We also got invaluable advice on how to take better care of ourselves. In between, we had lavish meals and took long walks. There was a lot to digest.

The knowledge and insight I gained in Baltimore sits with me now that I am back home in Port-au-Prince. It speaks to me in a different way than the rubble and destruction and poverty that is part of my daily vocabulary.

What it says reminds me that I have, without question, a new support network. I suspect that’s the heart of the fellowship, the relationships that form from our time together. I know I can rely on a group of experts who have the professional experience and heart to guide me through hard times and help me be a better reporter. I also know that I have a cadre of colleagues who, in the face of extreme circumstances, are still committed to being the eyes and ears of those who cannot tell their own stories. The connection I formed with them is one that keeps me company now.

And if there’s anything good that can come from trauma, it is that.